When a city is birthed, its heartbeat begins with a gathering place, often in the form of a bar or restaurant. Beverages loosen up the townspeople, creating convivial moments only hushed with a bite of food. Restaurants are givers, providing constant sustenance to its neighbors. They are ecosystems that provide jobs, memories, and security for suppliers. Empty dining rooms this past year were the vestiges of that life force. Without them, a piece of community was lost.
Closures—both permanent and temporary—throughout the pandemic exemplified a restaurant’s role in and as a community.
“Every restaurant brings the community together. We anchor life in that neighborhood,” says Eric Ripert, chef and co-owner of the three–Michelin-star restaurant Le Bernardin in Manhattan, and vice chairman of the board of City Harvest, a nonprofit organization responding to food insecurity in New York City. “Not only us, but the variety of restaurants that surround us. If not, it will be just towers and buildings with offices.”
With reopening on the horizon, the utter chaos spurred by the pandemic has redefined and reprioritized the tenets of the industry. Rather than focusing on its guests alone, hospitality is looking inward to care for the ones who serve.
The economy of restaurants
In Los Angeles, traffic vanished, and parking became a swift pursuit during quarantines. At times, those moments were a relief. However, the hollow thoroughfares were heartbreaking reminders of ghostly haunts and the struggles of the very people who bring those streets to life.
Within the four walls of any eatery, there’s a long lineup that actualizes a dining experience: hosts/hostesses, bussers, chefs, bartenders, accountants, and servers. Pre-pandemic, restaurants provided 15.6 million jobs, comprising 10% of national employment. At the beginning of December 2020, as the National Restaurant Association’s 2021 State of the Restaurant Industry report shows, more than 110,000 establishments were closed temporarily or permanently, and at the peak that meant 8 million workers were laid off or furloughed.
“[Restaurants] offer jobs in social mobility,” says Michael Bonadies, president of Bonadies Hospitality, who has overseen the opening of more than 75 restaurants as an owner, operator, and consultant. “I, myself, started as a dishwasher and later became president and CEO of companies. It still offers that. But I think jobs are probably one of the most important aspects of restaurants, because of the education and the pride that comes with those jobs as you learn skills.”
As the industry drudged through inconsistent guidelines, uncertainty brought much-needed attention to the welfare of restaurant workers. The Independent Restaurant Coalition (IRC), a grass-roots initiative spawned during the pandemic, proposed the Restaurants Act to Congress. In less than a year, their efforts secured a $28.6 billion grant program for independent restaurants and bars. Persistent voices such as this enabled communities to empathize and advocate on behalf of beloved restaurant staff, and IRC will continue to provide advice, networking, and information to members.
Manuela, a locally driven eatery tucked into the gallery of Hauser + Wirth in Los Angeles’s Arts District, immediately realized that the luxury of fancy meals were not a priority so much as the safety and nourishment of its colleagues and guests. “[The pandemic] was all about making decisions that would enable us to continue employing as many of our staff as possible while minimizing the amount of money we lost every week,” says executive chef Kris Tominaga. “At the best times we were losing less, at the worst times we feared having to let people know they wouldn’t be returning to work tomorrow.”
Looking forward, in an effort to mitigate such a strain, restaurateurs such as Katrina Bravo and Jenner Tomaska of forthcoming Esmé in Chicago, are preparing their staff for financial stability. They noticed hospitality workers live paycheck to paycheck, seldom have savings, and are often uninsured.
“One of the things we are looking to do is create educational programs where we bring in professionals that teach the team about financial planning and offer one on one guidance,” says Bravo, who along with Jenner, received dozens of calls from former colleagues asking for help navigating unemployment. “We always knew that it was important to provide a safe place for our team, and always intended to do things like providing insurance and someday a 401(k) program.”
The relief that comes with this security is becoming a crucial next step.
Embracing community, from neighbors to suppliers
With its intricate web, the inherent value of restaurants became shockingly clear once doors closed. The restaurant isn’t just a place to eat. It’s a place for jobs, purveyors, and comfort. Without restaurants, an entire ecosystem crumbled. And it’s no surprise that despite being brought to their knees, chefs and workers continued to serve those around them and implemented initiatives to do so in future.
“This past year has solidified my vision for Addison’s California gastronomy ethos as a way to support and represent this region and its purveyors,” reflects William Bradley, chef and director of Addison, in San Diego. He amended menus to localize sourcing and center its dishes around wellness. “The pandemic’s impact on the global food supply chain reinforces the importance of sourcing as close to home as possible, and heightens my sense of the responsibility that we, as chefs, have to be stewards of sustainability within our regions.”
Restaurants can uplift their neighbors, collaborating with growers to help people in need. From March through December 2020, Ripert used the kitchen at Le Bernardin to prepare 400 meals a day for nurses and doctors, shelters, and those struggling with addiction. As its doors reopen for regular service (right now it’s at 50% capacity), $5 from every guest will fund City Harvest, feeding 13 people a day. Manuela formed an ongoing partnership with Jenesse Center, an intervention and prevention organization for survivors of domestic abuse, an increasing danger during the pandemic. The team at Manuela provides 90 meals a week to the center and will continue to do so in future.
Many others are integrating permanent systems into their daily operations with help from groups like New York City’s Rethink Food, which transforms excess food from restaurants, corporate kitchens, and grocery stores into nutritious meals for community-based organizations. In April 2020, Rethink Certified launched at Manhattan’s Eleven Madison Park. The program offers grants and resources to local restaurants, enabling them to integrate community meals into their business model. This not only helps restaurants stay open, but alleviates food insecurity in various regions.
On April 5, the #RethinkPledge will ignite these efforts nationwide, fueled by partnerships with chef-restaurateurs including Sean Brock, Dominique Crenn, Andrew Zimmern, and Danny Meyer. Taking the pledge signals one’s commitment to driving lasting change in our food systems. To date, Rethink Food has partnered with 55 restaurants and invested over $12 million into local restaurants and communities.
Moving forward
With the whiplash came time to reassess from the ground up, giving further attention to financing. When things run smoothly, this doesn’t necessarily come into focus. For Ripert, he’s used the stillness to refine his operational costs and become more efficient. While the assessments will continue for years, he is devoted to maintaining the quality of Le Bernardin while also keeping his community in mind.
Additionally, Bonadies believes the restaurant industry has pricing power for the first time in decades, which will help carve out revenue to give back. “I have realized that through COVID, we have to do more than just give to our guests,” he says. “We have to give to the community and beyond. We have to make and spread the happiness a lot further than within the four walls of the restaurant or bar.”
As the ecosystem heals, restaurants will continue to serve people, but far more of them. And it’s our responsibility as diners to support this vital industry breathing life into our cities.